1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to a seatbelt retractor, and more specifically, to a seatbelt retractor including a plurality of spools for collecting retracted seatbelt webbing and storing said webbing.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional seatbelt retractors have traditionally included a spool around which excess seatbelt webbing is wound as said excess webbing is retracted into the retractor. When an occupant of a motor vehicle releases and removes the seatbelt, the slack is taken up through operation of the seatbelt retractor, from where it can subsequently be withdrawn when needed again. Some seatbelt retractors have included an optional webbing guide in the form of a roller that is remotely located away from the collection spool for tensioning and directing the excess webbing in a direction toward the spool during retraction. Properly directing the excess webbing during retraction minimizes interference with the webbing that can result in improper retraction, but the webbing guide does not collect the seatbelt webbing when not retracted from the retractor. Instead, as the webbing is wound around the spool, the outside diameter of the spool and webbing becomes quite large, thereby requiring significant storage space within the retractor to accommodate all of the excess seatbelt webbing.
Collecting and storing enough seatbelt webbing for large occupants of motor vehicles just worsens the spatial requirements for housing the spool and all the required seatbelt webbing to restrain those large occupants within the motor vehicle. Large occupants require lengthy expanses of seatbelt webbing to extend about the occupant to location where a latch can be inserted into a compatible fastener securing the latch within the fastener safely secures the occupant within the vehicle seat. The lengthy expanse of seatbelt webbing required to extend about a large occupant makes the diameter of the webbing wound about the spool even larger than it would be for a length of seatbelt webbing for restraining a smaller occupant of the motor vehicle. This, in turn, requires an even larger storage space in which the spool and its collected webbing can be disposed.
Previous attempts to store long expanses of seatbelt webbing have typically revolved around the use of large-diameter spools about which the webbing is wound to be collected when not in use. Increasing the diameter of the spool provides a larger surface area about which collected seatbelt webbing can be wound and stored. As noted above, however, the large-diameter spools require large storage areas in which to be stored to accommodate both the spool and the excess seatbelt webbing wound there around.
Traditionally, the cylindrical spools around which the webbing is collected and stored have been housed within an internal compartment formed in a side panel of the motor vehicle. These side panels extend into the interior of the vehicle's cabin to an extent that permits formation of an internal compartment that is suitably-sized to receive the spool and its entire complement of seatbelt webbing. Large-diameter spools with significant amounts of webbing requires large internal compartments within a side panel of the motor vehicle, thereby minimizing room within the cabin for occupants and other articles to be stored within the vehicle. Thus, the amount of excess seatbelt webbing that can be wound around such a large diameter of spool is limited by the internal storage cavity in which the retractor spool is located.
Further, conventional seatbelt retractors have utilized different sized spools to collect and store different lengths of seatbelt webbing depending upon the model of vehicle in which the retractor is to be installed. The outside diameter of the spool has traditionally been maximized to fit within the dimensions of the storage cavity of the retractor for the specific vehicle in which it is to be installed. Thus, such an arrangement required automotive manufacturers to warehouse and install many spools having different outside diameters to accommodate the length of stored seatbelt webbing desired for each particular model of vehicle produced. Vehicles which are to be provided with longer seatbelt webbings have heretofore required larger diameter spools than vehicles to be provided with shorter lengths of seatbelt webbing.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a seatbelt retractor than can store lengthy expanses of seatbelt webbing that can be withdrawn from the tractor to extend at least partially around a large occupant of a motor vehicle. The seatbelt retractor can optionally be adjustable to accommodate a plurality of different lengths of seatbelt webbing without requiring spools having different outside diameters.